Machine for the production of hollow glass bodies

ABSTRACT

A machine for the production of hollow glass bodies from glass tubes comprises a fixed pedestal, a drum rotatable on the pedestal about a vertical axis, and rotating upper and lower grippers on the drum. Fixed blowpipes about the drum heat the tubes whereupon the tubes sever by thermal shock. Each gripper comprises a plurality of coacting gripping fingers whose ends are specially shaped to support the severed hollow body.

United States Patent 1 1 Couquelet Feb. 19, 1974 [54] MACHINE FOR THEPRODUCTION OF 3,189,423 6/1965 Paione 65/105 HOLLOW GLASS BODIES3,627,505 12/1971 Engle 65/269 890,316 6/1908 Wadsworth 2l4/3.lInventor: Dwudonne Couquelet, Esneux, 2,665,831 1/1954 Midgley et111.... 214/11 Belgium 1,170,257 2/1916 Hitchcock 214/3.]

[73] Assignee: Ateliers de Construction mecanique Dieudonne Couquelet,societe anonyme Grivegnee, Belgium Pnmary Exam1nerRobert L. Lmdsay, Jr.Attorney, Agent, or FirmYoung & Thompson [22] F1led: Dec. 6, 1971 [21]Appl. No.: 205,042

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Dec. 7, 1970Belgium 759980 A machine for the production of hollow glass bodies 52US. 01 65/272, 65/280, 65/296, from glass tubes comprises a fixedPedestal, a r 214/1 BC, 214/31, 294/108 rotatable on the pedestal abouta vertical axis, and ro- 51 1111.131 C03b 23/04 g pp and lower pp on thedrum Fixed [58] Field of Search 65/97, 105, 112, 113,269, blowpipesabout the drum heat tubes whereupon 65/270, 271, 278, 272, 280, 292-299;the tubes sever by thermal shock. Each gripper com- 214/3.1, 1 B294/106, 108 P9 rali ,9129929995.,99121995995 59 W99 ends are speciallyshaped to support the severed hol- [56] References Cited low y- UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,157,328 1l/1964 Hennings et al. 65/113 X 1 Claim, 5Drawing Figures MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW GLASS BODIES Thisinvention relates to an apparatus for producing hollow products,especially of glass, from tubes.

Rotary machines are known for producing such hollow glass products,e.g., medicinal phials, wherein a fixed pedestal is provided with avertical shaft carrying a rotary drum. On the drum periphery areprovided gripping heads arranged in pairs the heads in each pair beingvertically aligned with each other. Glass tubes are held by grippingfingers pivotally connected to the gripping heads and pass insuccession, as the drum rotates, by working stations arranged around theoutside of the drum and wherein different operations required for themanufacture of hollow glass products are carried out by means of burnersor other tools.

During the production process, thelower end of each tube, fabricatedinto the shape of the hollow product, must be separated at a giveninstant from the upper part of the tube'which is held by the grippingfingers of the corresponding upper gripping head.

Thermal shock is normally employed to perform this separation: a smallnotch is cut at the predetermined position in the tube, thus forming afracture primer.

This position in the tube is heated and subsequently chilled suddenly,thereby producing internal strains in the glass which cause a fracturein the glass. The product formed is separated from the upper end of thetube.

It is already known to provide each gripping finger pivotally connectedto the lower gripping heads with a resilient thrust member consisting ofa spring, arranged to bias temporarily against the product formed fromthe glass tube, which product is thereby held during the severingoperation.

Thearrangement was designed to achieve clean separation withoutproducing glass splinters, to prevent the product detached from fallingfreely, and to hold the product in a desired orientation after thesevering action.

However this known arrangement has shortcomings: since the product isheld temporarily by flexible members during the severing operation, thefracture is frequently imperfect leading to a large proportion of scrapand rejects; moreover, the products detached are not always positionedat the same height with respect to the pedestal, which causesdifficulties in subsequent operations.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus forproducing hollow products from tubes in a continuous and systematicmanner, and wherein the products are broken off from a portion of thetubes in a clean and uniform manner, and wherein the products are firmlyheld as soon as they have been formed by severing, so that subsequentmanufacturing operations can be carried out thereon.

Accordingly the present invention provides a machine for the productionof hollow glass elements from glass tubes passing into upper and lowergrasping heads borne by a drum turning on a vertical shaft installed ona fixed pedestal and equipped with pivotally arranged gripping fingers,characterised in that each lower grasping head comprises a means ofsupporting the hollow element severed, on which the said severed hollowelement is placed immediately after its separation from the tube byparting by thermal shock.

The supporting means may be constituted by a supply element fastened byinsertion or the like on the end of a gripping finger.

In a preferred arrangement, the supporting means may be formed duringmanufacture and in one piece with the respective gripping finger. Thesupporting means element preferably consists of a bearing surface formedat the respective end of at least one of the gripping fingers.

Tee bearing surface may be a projection disposed near a lower edge orinward-facing end face of a respective gripping finger. Alternatively,the bearing surface is a flat surface formed on a respective grippingfinger located outwards of a point of connection between the inner endof the gripping member and a small upwardly extending rod for locatingthe product thereon.

The present invention will be further described, by way of example only,with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in diagrammatic form of anapparatus embodying the invention for producing hollow glass products,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale, of a lower grippinghead suitable for use in the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the ends ofa glasstube end, partly in section, and has gripping fingers of the grippinghead shown in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the end of a gripping finger shown in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a view analogous to FIG. 3, showing a modification of thegripping fingers.

Only components directly associated with the present invention have beenshown in the drawings. In the Figures, identical reference notationsdenote equivalent parts.

FIG. 1 shows a rotary apparatus for continuously producing hollow glassproducts, for example medicinal phials, from glass tubes. An apparatusof this type is well known to those skilled in the art and it is nothereafter described in detail.

On a fixed pedestal 14 a drum 13 is mounted for rotation about avertical spindle and is provided with lower 8 and upper gripping headson lower and upper parts of the drum respectively.

The lower part of this drum 13 comprises locating elements 8a for thelower gripping heads 8 in each of which there are slidably mounted aguiding upright 8b and a control rod 10. On the guiding upright 8b andthe control rod 10 of a respective locating element 8a is carried alower case 9 whereon is secured a respective lower gripping head 8.

The upper partof the drum 13 comprises a series of upper gripping heads8c which remain at an unvarying height with respect to i the pedestaland which are aligned with respective lower gripping heads, i.e., thegripping heads in each pair are coaxial with each other. In operationthe upper and lower gripping heads of each pair turn synchronouslyaround their common axis when the drum turns around the vertical axis ofthe machine.

Each of the lower 8 and upper 80 gripping heads comprises a shaft 8d onwhich is a slider 7 mounted for axial displacement there along. Threeconnecting rods 6 are pivotally connected to the slider 7 and to threepivotable gripping fingers 1 respectively, equi angularly spaced aroundthe axis of the gripping head 8. In use a glass tube is held along theaxis of the respective head of each pair by the inward facingextremities 5 of the gripping finger l in the respective gripping heads.The tubes 4 are thus gripped and held firmly at their lower and upperparts.

Severing or parting of the tubes 4 is performed after notches have beencut at predetermined positions in the tubes 4 in a known manner. Foreach tube 4 the slider 7 of the respective lower head 8 is lowered by aknown control mechanism (not shown) thereby causing the innerextremities of the gripping fingers l to move away slightly from oneanother and so the glass element 4a formed is no longer gripped at itslower end. Instead this glass product 4a is suspended by the grippingfingers 1 of the corresponding upper head 8c.

With respect to FIG. 3 and 4, three gripping fingers l of each lowergripping head 8 are provided at their extremities 5 thereof withrespective projections 16 close to the lower edges of their respectiveinward facing end faces. The projections 16 extend radially towards theaxis of the head and are formed during manufacture of the grippingfingers 1. A kind of socket is thus formed having a recess 16a in eachgripping finger 5 above the point of connection of the respectiveprojection 16 to the gripping surface of the extremities 5. The lowerend of the tube forming the glass product 4a is suspended within thissocket since it is held only by the glass tube 4 integral therewith.This product 4a is then separated from the rest of tube 4 by performinga severing action using thermal shock in known manner; the break isnormally perfectly clean.

As soon as the separation has been effected, the glass product 4a dropsonto the projections 16, after which the gripping fingers 1 close againon the glass product 4a and hold it firmly, for subjection to subsequentmanufacturing operations required.

The control rods 10 of the lower gripping heads 8 are provided at theirlower ends 1 with respective rollers 10a which, during rotation of thedrum 13, successively follow the tracks of cylindrical cams 1 1 and 12fixed to the pedestal 14, so as to displace the said lower heads 8vertically with respect to the corresponding upper heads 8c. The lowerheads 8 whose gripping fingers l grip the severed products 4a are thensuccessively lowered to carry the said products 4a to a given locationto cause the products 4a to travel past in front of a heating torch orburner 15 positioned at a fixed station, which performs a subsequentdesired operation.

A modified form of embodiment of the extremities of the fingers isillustrated in FIG. 5; in this case the inner extremities 5 of thegripping fingers 1 of the lower gripping heads 8 are each equipped witha flat surface 5b formed close to the upper edge of the extremity at theupper side. Moreover, each finger I is extended at this upper edge toform a small vertical bar 5a which extends within the lower end of thehollow body 4a which is separated as described before. As soon as it hasbeen separated, the hollow element 4a drops onto the flat surfaces 5bwhereupon, by means of a known control mechanism (not shown), thegripping fingers l and the rods 5a tend to move apart from one anotherthereby firmly holding the said glass element 4a from the inside, whichmay then undergo the other operations required.

Thus the separated products are substantially unshielded during thesevering operation and are held at a constant level. This reduces thenumber of rejects .since the break produced is nearly always perfect.

The supporting means may be constituted by pins screwed or otherwisesecured in the inner extremities of the gripping fingers. The supportingmeans may be releasably or permanently attached to the said fingers.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine for the production of hollow glass bodies from glasstubes, comprising a fixed pedestal, a drum rotatable on said pedestalabout a vertical axis, rotating upper grippers on said drum to holdglass tubes during cutting of the tubes, and blowpipes arranged at fixedstations around said rotary drum for heating tubes held by said rotaryupper grippers to sever by thermal shock lower portions of the glasstubes from the upper portions of the glass tubes that are held by saidrotary upper grippers; the improvement comprising rotating lowergrippers in vertical alignment with said rotating upper grippers, saidrotating lower grippers each comprising a plurality of gripping fingers,each of said gripping fingers having an upwardly facing surface toreceive and support jointly with another said gripping finger the lowerend of a severed said lower portion of a glass tube, each said grippingfinger having a portion extending upwardly and laterally-offset fromsaid upwardly facing surface to form with said upwardly facing surface arecess to receive and to grasp jointly with said upwardly extendingportion of another said gripping finger a said severed lower portion ofa glass tube, and means to move said gripping fingers horizontallytoward and away from each other thereby jointly first to support andthen to grasp and then to release a said severed lower portion of aglass tube.

1. In a machine for the production of hollow glass bodies from glasstubes, comprising a fixed pedestal, a drum rotatable on said pedestalabout a vertical axis, rotating upper grippers on said drum to holdglass tubes during cutting of the tubes, and blowpipes arranged at fixedstations around said rotary Drum for heating tubes held by said rotaryupper grippers to sever by thermal shock lower portions of the glasstubes from the upper portions of the glass tubes that are held by saidrotary upper grippers; the improvement comprising rotating lowergrippers in vertical alignment with said rotating upper grippers, saidrotating lower grippers each comprising a plurality of gripping fingers,each of said gripping fingers having an upwardly facing surface toreceive and support jointly with another said gripping finger the lowerend of a severed said lower portion of a glass tube, each said grippingfinger having a portion extending upwardly and laterally offset fromsaid upwardly facing surface to form with said upwardly facing surface arecess to receive and to grasp jointly with said upwardly extendingportion of another said gripping finger a said severed lower portion ofa glass tube, and means to move said gripping fingers horizontallytoward and away from each other thereby jointly first to support andthen to grasp and then to release a said severed lower portion of aglass tube.